Erosion Control June 2017 : Page 35

Waterfront Redevelopment A world-class trout stream runs through the community of Bellefonte, PA, but a quarter-mile stretch of the creek had fallen into a state of disrepair and was prone to flooding. “The city-run Bellefonte Redevelop-ment Authority had acquired a number of properties in this area over time,” explains Jeff Sturniolo, project man-ager with general contractor Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. “They were basically abandoned. One was a burnt-out tav-ern, another was an abandoned indus-trial warehouse. So part of the project was demolishing those old abandoned structures. “We had to put in a stream diversion in for a quarter-mile and build a retain-ing wall. The purpose of the retaining wall was to give the public a river walk, and also to elevate the properties above the floodplain so it could be developed for commercial or industrial use.” Massive Redi-Rock gravity blocks in three different sizes were used to con-struct the retaining wall, which totaled approximately 17,000 square feet. Part of the wall is underwater, ranging from 4 to 7 feet deep, while the ground adja-cent to the creek was raised between 4 and 6 feet. There were a number of unusual requirements for this project. One was that the city not only requested specific colors for the wall, but also asked that each stone in a block consist of a sepa-rate color. “They actually toured the factory,” says Sturniolo, “and worked with the block manufacturer to get the colors they wanted. It was a grey and a brown and a tan combination; they wanted it to look like the native limestone.” Sturniolo describes another require-ment, to benefit the fish. “This was something the fish commission wanted us to do, where the wall is bumped out on the next course up to make a shelf for the fish to take refuge under. We also did a bunch of boulder placements out in the stream. While we were doing the work, we invited the fish commis-sion onsite, and the fish commission biologist was there to be able to show us where he wanted the random boul-ders placed in the stream.” He notes that about 40 boulders were placed throughout the quarter-mile stretch of the creek on which the crews worked. Another necessity of the job was having lights inside a number of the blocks, to light up the walkway for New 2-Session Series! FORESTER UNIVERSITY PRESENTS Streambank Restoration Basics & Techniques 2-SESSION SERIES July 1 st & 8 th @ 11am PDT / 2pm EDT Earn 3 PDH / 0.3 CEU Credits BRINGING YOU CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY AND TOOLS–ANYTIME, ANYWHERE Follow us @ ForesterU Like us @ Forester.University Subscribe @ ForesterUniversity Add us @ Forester.University JUNE 2017 EROSION CONTROL 35 FU EC1706 Master Stream Restoration The city not only requested speciﬁ c colors for the wall, but also asked that each stone in a block consist of a separate color. with David T. Williams, Ph.D., P.E., PH, CFM, CPESC DTW and Associates Register today @ ForesterUniversity.net! Earn 3 PDH / 0.3 CEU Credits